


Little Moments in Between

by S10StarWarsFan



Category: A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Genre: After Movie, Angst, Charles Wallace is the best, During Movie, F/M, First phone call, Fluff, Kate's thoughts, awkward teenagers, before movie, let's hear it for the creaky seventh step to the attic!, movie-based
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-07-28 10:24:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16239710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S10StarWarsFan/pseuds/S10StarWarsFan
Summary: Little moments set before, during, and after the movie. Mostly Meg/Calvin with some Alex Murry/Kate Murry in there too.Chapter 1 -- Meg and Calvin's first phone call.Chapter 2 -- Kate's thoughts when Alex doesn't come in from the lab.





	1. Or You Could Kiss Her Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cudd13fudd13](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cudd13fudd13/gifts), [Omg_megasuperawesomeperson_number_3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omg_megasuperawesomeperson_number_3/gifts).



> Hello!!!!  
> Wow, I can't believe how long it has taken me to write something. I got this request days after I first posted my story and I am rather embarrassed that it has taken me this long. I promise that it won't take me about six months to write the next prompt! I had hit a writing block, so my best friend looked at it and helped me a lot. So, a huge shoutout to my best friend: Omg_megasuperawesomeperson_number_3 (I really hope I spelled that right)!  
> Anyways, these one shots are based off prompts that I was given by cudd13fudd13. This one is Meg and Calvin's first phone call. It briefly mentions my previous one shot "A Spark of Light", but you don't need to read it to read this. cudd13fudd13, I really hope that you like this and it makes up for the really long period of waiting.  
> So, I hope that you all really enjoy this story. Please feel free to leave a comment!
> 
> P.S. I have just finished celebrating Thanksgiving, which made me think of how thankful I am for all of you. I checked the stats for my stories on the weekend and was absolutely shocked to see that "A Spark of Light" has passed 1000 hits and is almost at 80 kudos! You have no idea how much this means to me. It is readers like you who read and leave likes or wonderful comments that encourages me to keep writing. You will never know how thankful I am that you all take a little time out of your day to read my stories. Thank you for all that you do and keep being the amazing people you are!  
> Thanks again!  
> <3 S10StarWarsFan
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own A Wrinkle in Time. That belongs to Madeline L'Engle/Disney. I just own my love for it! I also have nothing against science, I just personally found Grade 7/8 science quite boring at times when I took it! ;)

Charles Wallace smiled as he watched his parents reunite. He figured most of his classmates would have been disgusted by their public display of affection, but he didn’t mind. After all, the two had been apart for four years – they earned it. Deciding to give them a little privacy, he turned away to look at Meg and Calvin standing by the door.

“I think I’m gonna go home.” Calvin said quietly and Meg frowned.

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, there’s some things I need to say to my dad. Maybe now I can finally say them… It’s funny how it took a trip around the universe to get me there.” Leaning down, Calvin hugged Meg, smiling. Meg hugged him back and rested her head on his shoulder. After a second, they pulled back from each other.

“Can I call you later?” He asked her, hopefully.

“Yeah.” She smiled, nodding slightly.

“Or you could kiss her now!” Charles Wallace exclaimed. 

Meg whipped her head around to glare at her little brother and Calvin took a step away from Meg, clearing his throat awkwardly. Alex and Kate, who had been solely focused on each other, heard Charles Wallace’s rather loud exclamation. The parents both paused as they registered what their son had said before they both turned to look at Meg and Calvin, their eyebrows raised. All was silent in the kitchen for a minute as Charles Wallace glanced between his parents and Meg and Calvin. When the attention was turned to him, Charles Wallace looked up at gave the most innocent smile a six-year-old could possibly muster.

“Did we miss something?” Kate asked, confused, and Charles Wallace shrugged.

“Well, shockingly enough, you both are lacking in a surprising amount of knowledge concerning our experiences tessering from here to Uriel, the home of the Happy Medium, and Camazotz. Many important events took place in that short period of time. But, none of that is consequential at the moment. Consequential… my new word of the day!” He suddenly exclaimed, managing to change the topic of the conversation. 

Kate and Alex raised an eyebrow at their younger son before shrugging and focusing on each other again.  
Calvin looked down at Meg, obviously embarrassed, but smiled softly before pulling her into another hug. Meg wrapped her arms around him, smiling against his shoulder. Charles Wallace smirked at the two and shook his head. If this was how teenagers dealt with their feelings for one another, he wasn’t sure that he was going to enjoy his adolescent years. Finally, the two pulled away from each other and Calvin stepped back. He opened the door and smiled at Meg as he left. As he shut the door behind him, he craned his neck back so that he could watch her as he walked away. Charles Wallace gave him a little salute, which seemed to shake Calvin out of his daze as he smiled and saluted back before walking away to head home. Meg turned to Charles Wallace, unimpressed.

“You had to say that, didn’t you?” She asked and he gave her a gleeful smile.

“Yep!”

Meg shook her head, smiling as she picked up her little brother. She gave him a hug, which he enthusiastically returned before he wriggled out of her arms to run over to their parents. Meg smiled as she looked up at the sky, quietly thanking the Mrs. for their help in bringing her father home before she walked over to join her family.

Later that evening, Meg sat on her bed up in the attic, staring at her phone. It was sitting on the window ledge next to her bed, just waiting for a call from Calvin. She had been waiting for a while, but her phone had stayed silent, as if it was mocking her. Perhaps she should call him? She reached for it, hesitating for a second before she dropped her hand and huffed in frustration. How could she phone him when she didn’t even know his number? A minute later, she grabbed her phone and turned it on. Her lock screen appeared, showing a picture of her family right after they had adopted Charles Wallace. It had been the last family picture they had taken before her father had disappeared for four years. Smiling to herself, Meg made a mental note to update the picture before she typed in her password.

Instead of opening to her home screen, it opened to the contacts app. Meg frowned, not remembering the last time she had even opened the app as she scanned the rather short list. Then, she noticed it. Under the contact labelled “Mom” was one that said “Calvin O’Keefe”. Meg’s brows furrowed in confusion. She hadn’t put that contact in, so how could… She tapped on the contact to find his name and his phone number typed in. She scrolled further down to find something written in the “notes” section.

His birthday is September 30. You’re welcome! -Charles Wallace

Meg found herself caught between wanting to hurt and hug her little brother. He could drive her crazy but, honestly, how could she stay mad at him? Smiling slightly, she scrolled back up to call him. Before she could hit the button, however, her screen lit up with an incoming phone call from him. Meg sat there in surprise for a second before she answered it and held her phone up to her ear.

“Hello?” 

“Meg? Hi, it’s me, Calvin. Charles Wallace gave me your phone number… I hope you don’t mind.” His words were a little rushed together, causing her smile to widen a little more.

“Hey, Calvin, it’s okay. I’m not upset. Actually, Charles Wallace gave me your phone number too. I hope you don’t mind either.”

“No! That’s great! Um, I mean that’s fine with me.” He cleared his throat a little after his voice seemed to go up a few octaves.  
Silence started to fill the attic as she sat on her bed, chewing on her lip as she tried to think of what to say next. Perhaps he would speak first. However, as seconds slowly turned into minutes, she figured it would not be the case. So, she took a deep breath. 

“Calvin–”

“Meg, I–” They both spoke at the same time and stopped.

“You go–”

“Why don’t–” They cut each other off again and Meg flushed a little in embarrassment. They went into silence for another minute before Calvin spoke.  
“Um, how’s the weather at your house? Rainy or clear?”

“Uhhhh….” She trailed off, pulling back her curtain and looking out to see the starry sky. “Clear over here. Why? Is it raining at your house?”

“Nope. Skies are completely clear.” He was quiet for a second. “Sorry. That was a stupid question, wasn’t it?”

“Um, no? I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure that you would have to be in a state further east to have different weather than here but, for some reason, I can’t remember…” She trailed off, frowning. Her mother had told her about weather systems years ago. Why was she so nervous that she couldn’t remember something as simple as weather facts?

“Well, that makes two of us. Maybe we should ask Mrs. Riley at school tomorrow. It could very well kill half the class if we can get her out on a tangent explaining weather systems to us…. Oh, that is only if you don’t like science! I’m not saying that you don’t like science, I just meant the class. What am I saying? Of course you like science! We literally just used math and science to travel across the universe. Man, I sound like an idiot. You know what, I think I’ll just–”

“Calvin!” Meg blurted, cutting off Calvin’s jumble of sentences. “It’s okay. Don’t worry, I’m not offended. It’s true, I do like science, but Mrs. Riley’s science class is certainly not my passion.”

“You find it boring too?” He asked, sounding hopeful and she let out a laugh.

“Of course I do! I swear, if the school hadn’t gotten the donation that paid for all the upgrades on technology, she would still be using that old overhead projector with the sharpie markers on the projector slides. Though, her new slideshows aren’t much better…”

“True… I think she just typed all the old notes from the projector slides into PowerPoint so that she wouldn’t have to update her lessons. You know, she is a nice person, but I wish she wasn’t so boring.”

“I agree. Hey, by the way, do we have any homework for tomorrow? It completely slipped my mind.” She asked, dreading the answer as she looked at the time.

“Uh…. Nope! From what I have written down, she ran out of time when talking about tectonic plates, faults, and folds.” He did not sound very pleased with what he read and she made a face.

“Yeah. Let’s ask her tomorrow.” They both laughed before it got quiet. The silence wasn’t quite as awkward as before, but it wasn’t comfortable yet. Meg suddenly remembered a comment that Calvin made earlier.

“Hey, did you get to talk to your dad yet?” She asked, both curious and worried.

“Yeah…” Calvin stated, reluctantly, and her eyes widened in shock at her own words.

“Oh my gosh! That was really rude of me, wasn’t it? I don’t mean to pry into your personal life. I was just trying to be a friend and now I totally sound like a creep.”

“No, Meg, you’re fine! I’m not upset, and I don’t think you sounded like a creep. I’m okay with you asking.” He stated kindly, but Meg already felt too freaked out to back down.

“Are you sure? Because we can just drop the subject and I’ll pretend I never said–”

“Meg.” He repeated her name a little more forcefully this time, causing her to shut up. “It’s okay. I did talk to my dad… It wasn’t exactly an answer I dream about, but I think he’s finally listening to me. He seemed more open to hearing me out than ever before. You know, I think things are going to get better.” He stated rather honestly and she let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.

“I’m so glad to hear that.” 

“So, how are you doing?” He asked and she paused.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I keep pinching myself to see whether today was actually real. Calvin, what if this all was a dream? What if I wake up tomorrow and my father is gone again? What if he was never here to begin with? And I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’ll just stop…” Meg clamped a hand over her mouth, feeling her face flush in embarrassment when she heard Calvin’s chuckle.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I do it too."

“Thanks,” She smiled and they sat in silence for a little longer. Then suddenly Calvin spoke up.

“Oh gosh, look at the time! I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“What really?” She glanced over at the clock on the other side of the attic in shock. “Oh wow. You’re right. Well, I guess we should sign off for now. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Of course. Good night, Meg.” He said quietly and she smiled.

“Good night, Calvin.” 

And with that, Meg pulled her phone down and disconnected the call. Placing her phone on the windowsill next to her bed, she plugged it in before falling back onto her pillows a broad grin on her face. She could hardly believe how giddy she felt. Well, there was no denying it. Meg Murry had a huge crush on Calvin O’Keefe. 

Little did she know that Calvin felt the exact same way.


	2. To Disappear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate didn't need to worry. Alex would be home soon.
> 
> For Omg_megasuperawesomeperson_number_3.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I am so sorry for leaving you all with no update. I had been planning to write something, but life got crazy and I had no time. Recently I found the beginning of a one shot shoved in a notebook about Kate and Alex. This is sadder than what I usually write because it is looking at Kate's thoughts after Alex disappeared. I am hoping to make this into a multi-chapter fic so that it can have a happy ending, but this first part starts when Alex first tessers and what Kate is feeling/thinking. I hope that you all enjoy this and I hope to have a fluffy story for Meg and Calvin up soon to counter all the angst present here.  
> Please read/like/comment if you like it. I love getting feedback (positive is always preferred) and I also love getting suggestions. So, if you ever want to see something, feel free to ask!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own A Wrinkle in Time. The book belongs to Madeline L'Engle and the movie belongs to Disney. Flower of the Universe is by Sade.

“Flower of the universe, and child of mine…” 

Kate Murray sang quietly to Charles Wallace as she fed him his bottle of warm milk. She gently rocked the toddler back and forth as she moved slowly through the kitchen, trying to get him to fall asleep. She glanced out the kitchen window and smiled as she saw her husband hard at work in their lab. Alex glanced up from whatever he was doing, pausing as his gaze caught hers. He smiled warmly before looking away and continuing his work. Kate glanced over at the clock to check the time, making a mental note of when she should go check on him again. She looked back out the window, watching Alex for a moment longer before turning her attention back to the two-year-old in her arms, continuing her song. 

Kate finished feeding Charles Wallace his bottle and set it in the sink. She moved back over to the stove, making sure she had turned the element off before she picked up the pot of hot water that she had warmed the milk in. Moving over to the sink, she poured out the water before setting the pot in the sink as well. She could clean it in the morning. She then placed her other arm under the Filipino toddler, feeling just as much love for him as she would have if she had given birth to him herself. Gently swaying back and forth, she continued to sing the lullaby.

“When you sleep, softly the angels come like diamonds, like my love. They want to know its true, there’s someone in the world, lovely as you. They hear you when you cry, this love is far and wide. When you smile, the stars align. Flower of the universe, and child of…”

Kate trailed off as she glanced up to see that Alex was no longer at the window in their lab. Frowning, she leaned closer to the kitchen window, trying to see him. However, it didn’t even look like Alex was still inside the lab. Should she go out and check on him? Kate hesitated for a minute before she opened the screen door and walked out to the lab.

“Alex?” Kate called out as she opened the door, balancing Charles Wallace on her hip. She walked into the lab, looking around. 

The lab was empty, but all of the machines were still running. It was not unusual for Alex to get angry at a setback in his work. Ever since their presentation where he had first introduced the idea of a tesseract, he had been spending as much time as possible trying to finish the work. Instead of being discouraged by the mocking laughter at the presentation, he seemed almost even more determined to complete his work and prove them all wrong. Well, considering it was Alex, that may have been exactly what was motivating him. However, the work seemed to only produce a lot of dead ends. When this happened and he got angry, he often went out for a long walk to calm down. It was a little odd that he left everything on in the lab, but she simply figured he was preoccupied and forgot to.

Kate saved all of what he had been working on before she shut it off for the night. Alex might be a little annoyed at her, but she knew that he would need a break when he returned. He could easily turn it all back on, but the dark lab was usually enough to encourage him to come back to the house and get some rest. The truth was, whether he willingly agreed with her or not, they both knew that when he had to go for a walk it was time to close his work down for the night. She walked to the door and turned to shut off the lights when she noticed that Alex’s suitcoat was gone but his jacket was still there hanging up on its hook. He usually took a jacket out with him just in case he needed to go for a walk, but he must have forgotten it this time. Kate chuckled and shook her head at how scatterbrained her husband could be. Grabbing his coat and wrapping it around Charles Wallace, she carried the now-sleeping boy back into the house. 

Kate walked up the stairs to Charles Wallace’s room and put the boy in his crib before tucking him in. She leaned down and kissed his head gently before she quietly moved out of the room, making sure not to wake him up as she left. Once she was back in the hallway, she climbed up the stairs to the attic where Meg was now sleeping. Meg had wanted her own little space and asked her parents if she could move her room up to the attic. Both Kate and Alex had found it an odd request, but they agreed, making little Meg very happy. Kate smiled as she looked at all the pictures lining the wall before she glanced down, counting the steps. The seventh step made a horrible creaking noise if any pressure was put on it, so Kate quickly learned that she needed to skip the step if she wanted to check on her daughter without waking everyone in the house and, quite possibly, everyone else on the street. 

Kate carefully opened the door at the top of the steps and peered into the attic to check on Meg. The ten-year-old girl was sound asleep in her bed by the window. The blankets were pulled up to her chin, but Kate could tell that Meg was holding onto the stuffed bear that Alex had gotten her a few years before. Although the ten-year-old would never admit it to anyone outside of the family, Meg loved the bear slept with it every night. Kate never wanted to embarrass her daughter, but she thought it was rather sweet and never discouraged her from it. Kate slowly backed out of the attic and quietly walked down the stairs, making sure to skip the fourth step this time as she was going down instead of up.   
Back on the second level of the house, Kate went to her and Alex’s room. She changed into her pyjamas and pulled on a housecoat before going back down to the kitchen. She pulled a mug out of the cupboard, put a teabag in it, and placed the mug under the Keurig, pushing the brew button. A minute later, she sat down at the island in the kitchen, a mug of hot tea in her hands. For a while, she sat at the island, drinking her tea, as she waited up for Alex to return. However, when the tea was all gone and she found her head nodding fairly frequently, he still was not back. If Kate had been more alert, she may have been worried at the fact that he had been gone for so long. Instead, she simply turned off all the lights except for the one porch light that she always left on when he was working late. Making her way back upstairs, she quietly moved into their room and got into bed. She thought about staying up to wait, but she quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, Kate woke up to the feeling of warmth. Smiling, she rolled over to wake her husband, only to find him missing, the bed untouched on his side. Her eyes widened in confusion and she quickly sat up, looking around the room. It was obvious that Alex had never come in during the night. Kate frowned as she started to worry. But then she remembered that sometimes Alex would be too tired to climb the stairs and would crash in the living room. Hoping that this was what was going on, Kate quickly got out of bed, grabbed her bathrobe, and headed downstairs.

The lower level of the Murray House was silent, which worried Kate even more. The porch light was still on, which meant that Alex had not returned home yet. He always turned off the light when he got in the house and left his shoes by the door, but the light was on and there were no shoes in sight. Kate quickly moved into the kitchen and looked out the window, only to find the lab in darkness, just like she had left it the night before. Her worry quickly morphed into fear. Where was Alex? Why wasn’t he home? Was he hurt somewhere?

Her thoughts would have continued in this direction if not for the young voice calling out for her. Kate turned to see Meg coming down the stairs, holding a crying Charles Wallace, and looking very unimpressed that her brother woke her up. Kate quickly pushed the negative thoughts out of her head and rushed over to her children, gently taking the toddler from the ten-year-old’s arms. She needed to take care of Meg and get her to school before she could worry about Alex and, by that point, he would most likely be back from wherever he was. It would surely only be a few hours until Alex returned, she reasoned. With that encouraging thought, Kate quickly went about getting ready for the day because she didn’t need to worry. Alex would be home soon.


End file.
